Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 gets underway from Alicante in October. Green Marine has now officially handed over the third Volvo Ocean 65 to Team Brunel, to begin preparations for the race.

Team Brunel has successfully completed its sea trials in the Solent, UK and is now heading off to its base in Lanzarote to prepare for the Race.

'The Volvo Ocean 65 is a well thought-out and executed racing boat. During the sail trials the boat felt very smooth which is important as she is going to be our home for the next 16 months,' said skipper Bouwe Bekking, who has competed in the Volvo Ocean Race six times previously.

Meanwhile, work is underway at Green Marine’s factory on the next boats in the series. In total, seven have been ordered by the Volvo Ocean Race organisers.

'The Volvo Ocean Race momentum is building,' says Green Marine’s CEO Richard Acland. 'We have now delivered three Volvo Ocean 65 one-design racing yachts and are working to a precise time schedule to handover boats to Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in March and Team Alvimedica in April.

'Reliability and consistency is paramount when producing this extremely high performance one-design boat,' concludes Richard Acland. 'Green Marine has the organisational skills as well as the technical capabilities to deliver both. We are confident that the Volvo Ocean 65 will serve Team Brunel well in the challenging conditions that await them. We wish them safe and successful sailing.'